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Carlisle Moody

College of William and Mary, Economics, Faculty Member

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Anthony J. Nocella II

Salt Lake Community College

The University of Texas at Austin

Jose M. Faraldo

Universidad Complutense de Madrid

ELCHİN SULEYMANOV

Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences

University of Edinburgh

Drew University

Alessandro Corda

University of Minnesota

Andres Antillano

Universidad Central de Venezuela

City University of Hong Kong

National Scientific and Technical Research Council

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Papers by Carlisle Moody

State Appellate Court Adaptation to Caseload Increase, 1968-1984: [United States]

ICPSR Data Holdings, Oct 25, 1988

Female and Male Homicide Victimization Rates: Comparing Trends and Regressors*

Criminology, Nov 1, 1999

and Mary *We thank the editor, reviewers, Carolyn Block, Linda Langford, David McDowall, Terrie M... more and Mary *We thank the editor, reviewers, Carolyn Block, Linda Langford, David McDowall, Terrie Moffitt, and Dwayne Smith for useful comments. The data and basic programs are available at http:llmorton.wm.edu/-cemoodlhomicide2.data. CRIMINOLOGY VOLUME 37 NUMBER 4 1999 879 1. For examples of studies that encounter this problem see Avakame (1998) and similar research discussed there. The t-ratios there are probably biased due to heteroscedasticity, which is exaggerated by weighting.

Are all right-to-carry laws the same?

Social Science Research Network, 2021

A review of the literature studying the effect of right-to-carry laws shows that the weight of ev... more A review of the literature studying the effect of right-to-carry laws shows that the weight of evidence indicates that such laws reduced violent crime. However, more recent studies, using more recent data, tend to find that these laws cause increases in various kinds of violent crime, raising the possibility that circumstances have changed since 2000, causing these laws to become detrimental. We suggest that these recent studies, which do not use all the available data, are seriously compromised because they compare states that only recently have adopted right-to-carry laws with states that have had these laws for many years, instead of comparing against states with more restrictive laws. Early adopting states experienced relatively large reductions in crime corresponding to large increases in the number of right-to-carry permits. Late adopting states passed rules making it difficult to obtain permits and exercise the right to carry concealed weapons. Ignoring the fact that these late adopting states with stricter rules on obtaining permits issue relatively few permits can produce perverse results where coefficients imply an increase in crime even though the opposite is true. We demonstrate this effect with a simple statistical test.

Is There a Relationship between Guns and Freedom? Comparative Results from 59 Nations

Social Science Research Network, 2008

Is there a relationship between firearm ownership in a nation and the level of freedom? Many peop... more Is there a relationship between firearm ownership in a nation and the level of freedom? Many people have thought so. The American founding generation thought that the relationship was positive. James Madison spoke of -the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation,‖ and contrasted the United States with -the several kingdoms of Europe,‖ where -the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.‖ 4 Two centuries later, Senator Hubert Humphrey affirmed the same idea: Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms…. The right of citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary government, and one more safeguard against tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible. 5

Econometric Modeling and Model Falsification

Advances in Pure Mathematics, 2019

A recent literature on qualitative analysis has shown that its successful application in testing ... more A recent literature on qualitative analysis has shown that its successful application in testing the consistency of the sign patterns of a proposed structure and an estimated reduced form was far less restricted than a previous literature had proposed. A frequent example used in this demonstration was the qualitative analysis of Klein's Model I. For this, the proposed structural sign pattern was falsified by the sign pattern of the estimated reduced form. As a result, the subsequent application two-stage least squares would always find quantifications of the structure that could not possibly have resulted in the sign pattern of the estimated reduced form. We view this result as a diagnostic calling for further analysis. We show that the Klein model fails standard over identification tests. We make modest amendments to the model that resolves this problem but find that the resulting estimated reduced form still falsifies the structure, calling for further developmental effort. Our point is that qualitative falsification should be viewed as a diagnostic in developing a model, rather than a criterion for entirely dismissing the model.

Do Right to Carry Laws Still Reduce Violent Crime?

Academia letters, Mar 2, 2022

The Impact of Right-to-Carry Laws: A Critique of the 2014 Version of Aneja, Donohue, and Zhang

Econ Journal Watch, 2018

In 2005 the National Research Council (NRC) analyzed right-to-carry (RTC) laws, also known as sha... more In 2005 the National Research Council (NRC) analyzed right-to-carry (RTC) laws, also known as shall-issue laws, which relax the requirements necessary to acquire a permit to carry a concealed weapon. The NRC essentially concluded that the data were not sufficient to determine whether RTC laws increased or decreased crime. However, a recent working paper from Abhay Aneja, John J. Donohue, and Alexandria Zhang (hereafter "ADZ") re-evaluates the NRC analysis and purports to find evidence that RTC laws increase murder, rape, robbery, and assault (ADZ 2014). ADZ's paper, issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research, has received substantial attention. In this article we re-analyze that paper from ADZ, using ADZ's own data and regression models, and contend that such conclusions are misleading.

Do White Police Officers Unfairly Target Black Suspects?

Social Science Research Network, 2016

Using a unique data set we link the race of police officers who kill suspects with the race of th... more Using a unique data set we link the race of police officers who kill suspects with the race of those who are killed across the United States. We have data on a total of 2,699 fatal police killings for the years 2013 to 2015. This is 1,333 more killings by police than is provided by the FBI data on justifiable police homicides. When either the violent crime rate or the demographics of a city are accounted for, we find that white police officers are not significantly more likely to kill a black suspect. For the estimates where we know the race of the officer who killed the suspect, the ratio of the rate that blacks are killed by black versus white officers is large -ranging from 3 to 5 times larger. However, because the media may under report the officer's race when black officers are involved, other results that account for the fact that a disproportionate number of the unknown race officers may be more reliable. They indicate no statistically significant difference between killings of black suspects by black and white officers. Our panel data analysis that looks at killings at the police department level confirms this. These findings are inconsistent with taste-based racial discrimination against blacks by white police officers. Our estimates examining the killings of white and Hispanic suspects found no differences with respect to the races of police officers. If the police are engaged in discrimination, such discriminatory behavior should also be more difficult when body or other cameras are recording their actions. We find no evidence that body cameras affect either the number of police killings or the racial composition of those killings.

Firearms and Homicide

Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Sep 30, 2010

Clustering and Standard Error Bias in Fixed Effects Panel Data Regressions

Journal of Quantitative Criminology, May 7, 2018

Objective We address several issues concerning standard error bias in pooled time-series cross-se... more Objective We address several issues concerning standard error bias in pooled time-series cross-section regressions. These include autocorrelation, problems with unit root tests, nonstationarity in levels regressions, and problems with clustered standard errors. Methods We conduct unit root test for crimes and other variables. We use Monte Carlo procedures to illustrate the standard error biases caused by the above issues in pooled studies. We replicate prior research that uses clustered standard errors with difference-in-differences regressions and only a small number of policy changes. Results Standard error biases in the presence of autocorrelation are substantial when standard errors are not clustered. Importantly, clustering greatly mitigates bias resulting from the use of nonstationary variables in levels regressions, although in some circumstances clustering can fail to correct for standard error biases due to other reasons. The "small number of policy changes" problem can cause extreme standard error bias, but this can be corrected using "placebo laws". Other biases are caused by weighting regressions, having too few units, and having dissimilar autocorrelation coefficients across units. Conclusions With clustering, researchers can usually conduct regressions in levels even with nonstationary variables. They should, however, be leery of pitfalls caused by clustering, especially when conducting difference-in-differences analyses.

Can and Should Criminology Research Influence Policy? Suggestions for Time-Series Cross-Section Studies*

Criminology and public policy, Aug 1, 2008

On the Choice of Control Variables in the Crime Equation*

Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Aug 24, 2010

AbstractAlthough control variables are the reason for multiple regression, surprising little atte... more AbstractAlthough control variables are the reason for multiple regression, surprising little attention is given to the process of locating and selecting the controls. If important controls are omitted, estimates can be biased and inconsistent whereas using too many controls can reduce efficiency and mask effects. We advocate a much broader search for controls than is customary, at least in the

Age structure and crime rates: The conflicting evidence

Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Sep 1, 1991

Because arrest rates are especially high for teenagers and young adults, criminologists have long... more Because arrest rates are especially high for teenagers and young adults, criminologists have long contended that age structure changes affect crime trends. In recent years, however, this belief has been drawn into question because crime has not declined even though high-crime age groups have shrunk. We argue that the age/crime relationship is probably exaggerated because the high arrest rates for younger persons are due partly to their lesser ability to escape arrest, younger persons commit more group crime, and the age structure of victims should be taken into account. We then review 90 studies that regress crime rates on age structure; only a small minority consistently finds significant relationships. Because of methodological problems in this research, one cannot conclude that the age/crime relationship does not exist, but the weight of evidence shows that forecasts based on demographic trends are not likely to be helpful. KEY WORDS: age and crime; crime statistics. Uniform Crime Reports Total Crime Index Percentage Reported crime National population Arrest Crime Survey 15 to 24 Raw Adjusted rate victimizations years old 1972 -5.3

Joint Bidding, Entry, and the Price of OCS Leases

The RAND Journal of Economics, 1988

... resources and usually increases the fraction of this value captured by government via thecomp... more

Heller, McDonald and Murder: Testing the More Guns, More Murder Thesis

Social Science Research Network, 2010

Quality, Price, Advertising, and Published Quality Ratings

Journal of Consumer Research, Mar 1, 1983

... ROB-ERT B. ARCHIBALD CLYDE A. HAULMAN CARLISLE E. MOODY, JR ... Using the standardtest for di... more

Prison population growth and crime reduction

Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Jun 1, 1994

The impact of state prison populations on crime is typically estimated by applying the lambda, th... more The impact of state prison populations on crime is typically estimated by applying the lambda, the individual crime rate, of prisoners or arrestees. We outline the problems with this approach, attempt to reanalyze the widely divergent lambdas derived in past research, and make adjustments necessary to use lambdas for estimating the incapacitation impact. The result is an uncertain estimate of 16 to 25 index crimes averted per year per each additional prisoner. We argue that regression analysis can provide a better estimate of the impact of prison population growth. Applying the Granger test to pooled state data over 19 years, we found that prison population growth leads to lower crime rates but that crime rate changes have little or no short-term impact on prison population growth. Next we regressed crime rates on prison population and conclude that, on average, at least 17 index crimes are averted per additional prisoner. The impact is limited mainly to property crime.

Do Right to Carry Laws Increase Violent Crime? A Comment on Donohue, Aneja, and Weber

Econ Journal Watch, 2019

Along with coauthors, John J. Donohue of the Stanford Law School regularly releases empirical res... more Along with coauthors, John J. Donohue of the Stanford Law School regularly releases empirical research finding that certain laws concerning the carrying of firearms, those known as right-to-carry or RTC laws, increase violent crime. We have engaged with the previous releases to show that the latest findings are not robust, and here we do so again. This time we address something maintained in the previous releases, namely the weighting of fixed-effects regressions by population, and something that is new to the last two versions, namely a synthetic control procedure. Perhaps after another round or two it will be time to recap all the robustness criticisms to date, but here we confine ourselves to the two new criticisms. Donohue, Abhay Aneja, and Kyle Weber (hereafter DAW) have produced two revisions (2018a; b) to their 2017 working paper, which itself is part of a series of papers dating back 15 years (

Industrial Generation of Electricity in 1985: A Regional Forecast

The Review of Regional Studies, Jul 13, 1978

Is the United States an Outlier in Public Mass Shootings? A Comment on Adam Lankford

Econ Journal Watch, 2019

In 2016, Adam Lankford published an article in Violence and Victims titled "Public Mass Shooters ... more In 2016, Adam Lankford published an article in Violence and Victims titled "Public Mass Shooters and Firearms: A Cross-National Study of 171 Countries." In the article he concludes: "Despite having less than 5% of the global population (World Factbook, 2014), it [the United States] had 31% of global public mass shooters" (Lankford 2016, 195). Lankford claims to show that over the 47 years from 1966 to 2012, both in the United States and around the world there were 292 cases of "public mass shooters" of which 90, or 31 percent, were American. Lankford attributes America's outsized percentage of international public mass shooters to widespread gun ownership. Besides doing so in the article, he has done so in public discourse (e.g., Lankford 2017). Lankford's findings struck a chord with President Obama: "I say this every time we've got one of these mass shootings: This just doesn't happen in other countries." -President Obama, news conference at COP21 climate conference in Paris, Dec. 1

State Appellate Court Adaptation to Caseload Increase, 1968-1984: [United States]

ICPSR Data Holdings, Oct 25, 1988

Female and Male Homicide Victimization Rates: Comparing Trends and Regressors*

Criminology, Nov 1, 1999

and Mary *We thank the editor, reviewers, Carolyn Block, Linda Langford, David McDowall, Terrie M... more and Mary *We thank the editor, reviewers, Carolyn Block, Linda Langford, David McDowall, Terrie Moffitt, and Dwayne Smith for useful comments. The data and basic programs are available at http:llmorton.wm.edu/-cemoodlhomicide2.data. CRIMINOLOGY VOLUME 37 NUMBER 4 1999 879 1. For examples of studies that encounter this problem see Avakame (1998) and similar research discussed there. The t-ratios there are probably biased due to heteroscedasticity, which is exaggerated by weighting.

Are all right-to-carry laws the same?

Social Science Research Network, 2021

A review of the literature studying the effect of right-to-carry laws shows that the weight of ev... more A review of the literature studying the effect of right-to-carry laws shows that the weight of evidence indicates that such laws reduced violent crime. However, more recent studies, using more recent data, tend to find that these laws cause increases in various kinds of violent crime, raising the possibility that circumstances have changed since 2000, causing these laws to become detrimental. We suggest that these recent studies, which do not use all the available data, are seriously compromised because they compare states that only recently have adopted right-to-carry laws with states that have had these laws for many years, instead of comparing against states with more restrictive laws. Early adopting states experienced relatively large reductions in crime corresponding to large increases in the number of right-to-carry permits. Late adopting states passed rules making it difficult to obtain permits and exercise the right to carry concealed weapons. Ignoring the fact that these late adopting states with stricter rules on obtaining permits issue relatively few permits can produce perverse results where coefficients imply an increase in crime even though the opposite is true. We demonstrate this effect with a simple statistical test.

Is There a Relationship between Guns and Freedom? Comparative Results from 59 Nations

Social Science Research Network, 2008

Is there a relationship between firearm ownership in a nation and the level of freedom? Many peop... more Is there a relationship between firearm ownership in a nation and the level of freedom? Many people have thought so. The American founding generation thought that the relationship was positive. James Madison spoke of -the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation,‖ and contrasted the United States with -the several kingdoms of Europe,‖ where -the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.‖ 4 Two centuries later, Senator Hubert Humphrey affirmed the same idea: Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms…. The right of citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary government, and one more safeguard against tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible. 5

Econometric Modeling and Model Falsification

Advances in Pure Mathematics, 2019

A recent literature on qualitative analysis has shown that its successful application in testing ... more A recent literature on qualitative analysis has shown that its successful application in testing the consistency of the sign patterns of a proposed structure and an estimated reduced form was far less restricted than a previous literature had proposed. A frequent example used in this demonstration was the qualitative analysis of Klein's Model I. For this, the proposed structural sign pattern was falsified by the sign pattern of the estimated reduced form. As a result, the subsequent application two-stage least squares would always find quantifications of the structure that could not possibly have resulted in the sign pattern of the estimated reduced form. We view this result as a diagnostic calling for further analysis. We show that the Klein model fails standard over identification tests. We make modest amendments to the model that resolves this problem but find that the resulting estimated reduced form still falsifies the structure, calling for further developmental effort. Our point is that qualitative falsification should be viewed as a diagnostic in developing a model, rather than a criterion for entirely dismissing the model.

Do Right to Carry Laws Still Reduce Violent Crime?

Academia letters, Mar 2, 2022

The Impact of Right-to-Carry Laws: A Critique of the 2014 Version of Aneja, Donohue, and Zhang

Econ Journal Watch, 2018

In 2005 the National Research Council (NRC) analyzed right-to-carry (RTC) laws, also known as sha... more In 2005 the National Research Council (NRC) analyzed right-to-carry (RTC) laws, also known as shall-issue laws, which relax the requirements necessary to acquire a permit to carry a concealed weapon. The NRC essentially concluded that the data were not sufficient to determine whether RTC laws increased or decreased crime. However, a recent working paper from Abhay Aneja, John J. Donohue, and Alexandria Zhang (hereafter "ADZ") re-evaluates the NRC analysis and purports to find evidence that RTC laws increase murder, rape, robbery, and assault (ADZ 2014). ADZ's paper, issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research, has received substantial attention. In this article we re-analyze that paper from ADZ, using ADZ's own data and regression models, and contend that such conclusions are misleading.

Do White Police Officers Unfairly Target Black Suspects?

Social Science Research Network, 2016

Using a unique data set we link the race of police officers who kill suspects with the race of th... more Using a unique data set we link the race of police officers who kill suspects with the race of those who are killed across the United States. We have data on a total of 2,699 fatal police killings for the years 2013 to 2015. This is 1,333 more killings by police than is provided by the FBI data on justifiable police homicides. When either the violent crime rate or the demographics of a city are accounted for, we find that white police officers are not significantly more likely to kill a black suspect. For the estimates where we know the race of the officer who killed the suspect, the ratio of the rate that blacks are killed by black versus white officers is large -ranging from 3 to 5 times larger. However, because the media may under report the officer's race when black officers are involved, other results that account for the fact that a disproportionate number of the unknown race officers may be more reliable. They indicate no statistically significant difference between killings of black suspects by black and white officers. Our panel data analysis that looks at killings at the police department level confirms this. These findings are inconsistent with taste-based racial discrimination against blacks by white police officers. Our estimates examining the killings of white and Hispanic suspects found no differences with respect to the races of police officers. If the police are engaged in discrimination, such discriminatory behavior should also be more difficult when body or other cameras are recording their actions. We find no evidence that body cameras affect either the number of police killings or the racial composition of those killings.

Firearms and Homicide

Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Sep 30, 2010

Clustering and Standard Error Bias in Fixed Effects Panel Data Regressions

Journal of Quantitative Criminology, May 7, 2018

Objective We address several issues concerning standard error bias in pooled time-series cross-se... more Objective We address several issues concerning standard error bias in pooled time-series cross-section regressions. These include autocorrelation, problems with unit root tests, nonstationarity in levels regressions, and problems with clustered standard errors. Methods We conduct unit root test for crimes and other variables. We use Monte Carlo procedures to illustrate the standard error biases caused by the above issues in pooled studies. We replicate prior research that uses clustered standard errors with difference-in-differences regressions and only a small number of policy changes. Results Standard error biases in the presence of autocorrelation are substantial when standard errors are not clustered. Importantly, clustering greatly mitigates bias resulting from the use of nonstationary variables in levels regressions, although in some circumstances clustering can fail to correct for standard error biases due to other reasons. The "small number of policy changes" problem can cause extreme standard error bias, but this can be corrected using "placebo laws". Other biases are caused by weighting regressions, having too few units, and having dissimilar autocorrelation coefficients across units. Conclusions With clustering, researchers can usually conduct regressions in levels even with nonstationary variables. They should, however, be leery of pitfalls caused by clustering, especially when conducting difference-in-differences analyses.

Can and Should Criminology Research Influence Policy? Suggestions for Time-Series Cross-Section Studies*

Criminology and public policy, Aug 1, 2008

On the Choice of Control Variables in the Crime Equation*

Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Aug 24, 2010

AbstractAlthough control variables are the reason for multiple regression, surprising little atte... more AbstractAlthough control variables are the reason for multiple regression, surprising little attention is given to the process of locating and selecting the controls. If important controls are omitted, estimates can be biased and inconsistent whereas using too many controls can reduce efficiency and mask effects. We advocate a much broader search for controls than is customary, at least in the

Age structure and crime rates: The conflicting evidence

Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Sep 1, 1991

Because arrest rates are especially high for teenagers and young adults, criminologists have long... more Because arrest rates are especially high for teenagers and young adults, criminologists have long contended that age structure changes affect crime trends. In recent years, however, this belief has been drawn into question because crime has not declined even though high-crime age groups have shrunk. We argue that the age/crime relationship is probably exaggerated because the high arrest rates for younger persons are due partly to their lesser ability to escape arrest, younger persons commit more group crime, and the age structure of victims should be taken into account. We then review 90 studies that regress crime rates on age structure; only a small minority consistently finds significant relationships. Because of methodological problems in this research, one cannot conclude that the age/crime relationship does not exist, but the weight of evidence shows that forecasts based on demographic trends are not likely to be helpful. KEY WORDS: age and crime; crime statistics. Uniform Crime Reports Total Crime Index Percentage Reported crime National population Arrest Crime Survey 15 to 24 Raw Adjusted rate victimizations years old 1972 -5.3

Joint Bidding, Entry, and the Price of OCS Leases

The RAND Journal of Economics, 1988

... resources and usually increases the fraction of this value captured by government via thecomp... more

Heller, McDonald and Murder: Testing the More Guns, More Murder Thesis

Social Science Research Network, 2010

Quality, Price, Advertising, and Published Quality Ratings

Journal of Consumer Research, Mar 1, 1983

... ROB-ERT B. ARCHIBALD CLYDE A. HAULMAN CARLISLE E. MOODY, JR ... Using the standardtest for di... more

Prison population growth and crime reduction

Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Jun 1, 1994

The impact of state prison populations on crime is typically estimated by applying the lambda, th... more The impact of state prison populations on crime is typically estimated by applying the lambda, the individual crime rate, of prisoners or arrestees. We outline the problems with this approach, attempt to reanalyze the widely divergent lambdas derived in past research, and make adjustments necessary to use lambdas for estimating the incapacitation impact. The result is an uncertain estimate of 16 to 25 index crimes averted per year per each additional prisoner. We argue that regression analysis can provide a better estimate of the impact of prison population growth. Applying the Granger test to pooled state data over 19 years, we found that prison population growth leads to lower crime rates but that crime rate changes have little or no short-term impact on prison population growth. Next we regressed crime rates on prison population and conclude that, on average, at least 17 index crimes are averted per additional prisoner. The impact is limited mainly to property crime.

Do Right to Carry Laws Increase Violent Crime? A Comment on Donohue, Aneja, and Weber

Econ Journal Watch, 2019

Along with coauthors, John J. Donohue of the Stanford Law School regularly releases empirical res... more Along with coauthors, John J. Donohue of the Stanford Law School regularly releases empirical research finding that certain laws concerning the carrying of firearms, those known as right-to-carry or RTC laws, increase violent crime. We have engaged with the previous releases to show that the latest findings are not robust, and here we do so again. This time we address something maintained in the previous releases, namely the weighting of fixed-effects regressions by population, and something that is new to the last two versions, namely a synthetic control procedure. Perhaps after another round or two it will be time to recap all the robustness criticisms to date, but here we confine ourselves to the two new criticisms. Donohue, Abhay Aneja, and Kyle Weber (hereafter DAW) have produced two revisions (2018a; b) to their 2017 working paper, which itself is part of a series of papers dating back 15 years (

Industrial Generation of Electricity in 1985: A Regional Forecast

The Review of Regional Studies, Jul 13, 1978

Is the United States an Outlier in Public Mass Shootings? A Comment on Adam Lankford

Econ Journal Watch, 2019

In 2016, Adam Lankford published an article in Violence and Victims titled "Public Mass Shooters ... more In 2016, Adam Lankford published an article in Violence and Victims titled "Public Mass Shooters and Firearms: A Cross-National Study of 171 Countries." In the article he concludes: "Despite having less than 5% of the global population (World Factbook, 2014), it [the United States] had 31% of global public mass shooters" (Lankford 2016, 195). Lankford claims to show that over the 47 years from 1966 to 2012, both in the United States and around the world there were 292 cases of "public mass shooters" of which 90, or 31 percent, were American. Lankford attributes America's outsized percentage of international public mass shooters to widespread gun ownership. Besides doing so in the article, he has done so in public discourse (e.g., Lankford 2017). Lankford's findings struck a chord with President Obama: "I say this every time we've got one of these mass shootings: This just doesn't happen in other countries." -President Obama, news conference at COP21 climate conference in Paris, Dec. 1